Thursday, March 31, 2011

Paying off Debt: Learn to Do It Yourself

One very successful way that we're helping ourselves pay off debt is that we've more often been choosing to do things ourselves rather than buy an item or hire a job done.

One significant example is that a little over a year ago our heat pump stopped working.

I had a contractor give us an estimate for replacing the system - let's just say it was five to six thousand dollars. I talked to someone I worked with and he suggested I just do it myself. Do it myself? You can't do that, can you? You have to have a license and all that!

Well, turns out, you can order all the parts online and they come pre-charged with the refrigerant (the stuff you need a license for). You can just put everything into place, run the pipes and open a valve to release the refrigerant. Of course, I'm simplifying it here, but it's really not that bad. I managed to get it all done over the course of a about a week of evenings.

Best part - after the tax credits for the new system, we got it all done for under $2000. That's what I call worth it! Then, the new system saved us money on our electric bill to the tune of $30 per month! Wonderful!

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